Political committee claims private eye's report obtained illegally

A political action committee based in Macomb County has asked state elections officials to dismiss a complaint against the PAC, claiming a private investigator’s report was obtained illegally.

In a letter to the Bureau of Elections in Lansing, a lawyer representing Macomb Business United said communications from a licensed private eye are privileged information and should not be used as a basis for allegations that the PAC violated Michigan’s campaign finance law.

Warren resident Henry Krzystowczyk, 82, filed a complaint in June against Macomb Business United, alleging the PAC failed to report any expenses or in-kind contributions involving ASAP Backgrounds and Investigations, Inc.

Krzystowczyk, a longtime political watchdog, and two other residents were investigated by the firm. He submitted documents that show Macomb Business United treasurer Gus Ghanam met with ASAP in November 2011 and requested background checks of three people “that his organization has concerns with,” according to documents obtained by The Macomb Daily.

After an initial review of Krzystowczyk’s complaint, the elections bureau decided to launch a full investigation, Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams confirmed.

In a June 28 response to the state on behalf of Macomb Business United, attorney John Dolan wrote that the PAC did not waive its right to keep communications with the private investigator confidential.

“No information has been provided which reveal the manner in which this communication was obtained. Mr. Ghanam, at no time authorized the revelation of this document and believes that this document was removed (from) his possession without authorization and with criminal intent,” Dolan said in the letter, documents obtained by the newspaper show.

“We would request that this complaint be dismissed. The evidence to support it was illegally obtained and involves the wrongful disclosure of privileged documents which means the privilege remains intact,” he said.

Reached for comment, Krzystowczyk said Dolan’s letter to the state fails to address whether the PAC met its obligation to disclose any expenses and contributions of money or services between Macomb Business United and ASAP.

“They don’t even mention the fact that it wasn’t reported,” said Krzystowczyk, a Chrysler Corp. retiree and frequent critic of Warren officials.

“(My complaint) has nothing to do with the privileged information.

“We’re not challenging that part.”

In addition to Krzystowczyk, the PAC also requested information about residents Tomasz Jaroslaw Bania, 21, and Christopher Lawrence Pasternak, 34.

Ghanam, the PAC treasurer, is a Warren resident employed as the city’s assistant director of public works. He was appointed by Mayor James Fouts.

“The department will consider the evidence, request additional information if necessary and make a determination. It will be some weeks before than occurs,” Woodhams said in an email.

In an earlier report, Krzystowczyk, Pasternak and Bania said last month they learned of the private investigations when documents were anonymously left at their homes. Pasternak, 34, said he began fearing for his family’s safety. He said a privately financed investigation into his background would not have surprised him if it had occurred in the summer of 2011, when he ran for a seat on the Warren City Council. He lost in the primary election in District 5.

He and Bania, a student at Eastern Michigan University, acknowledged that they were very critical of city officials on some issues.

In recent years, Bania submitted numerous requests under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act for information about the city. He also commented frequently on Internet forums about news and events in the city during 2011, and he frequently criticized city officials at City Council meetings that year.

Bania called it “highly peculiar” that the investigation occurred around the time that three female employees on Fouts’ staff sought a personal protection order against Bania. The women did not specify their reasons in requesting the PPO, and a Macomb County Circuit judge in December 2011 rejected their request for an immediate PPO.

An attorney representing the women said Bania followed and videotaped them at a store and that he made seemingly unnecessary requests during visits to the mayor’s office at City Hall. The mayoral staffers dropped their case because Bania stopped coming around after the 2011 election.

Bania’s attorney countered that the women are public employees subject to scrutiny, and that his commentary was free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.

He and Pasternak also asked the Warren Police Department to investigate whether Fouts lied about the birth date written by Fouts on his affidavits of candidacy in 2007 and 2003.

Fouts appointed Krzystowczyk as his chief of staff shortly after becoming mayor in late 2007. Krzystowczyk resigned the $65,000-a-year job after approximately six months.

The former mayoral appointee feels that Fouts was behind the private investigation.

Fouts, however, called such notions ridiculous, saying he doesn’t order Ghanam how to spend PAC funds and that any attempt to link him to the private investigation is a deliberate effort by political enemies to hurt his re-election chances in 2015.